Aaron jumps to the top in men's figure skating

Defending champ Abbott third after botching last jump.

OMAHA, Neb. — It looks as if the next generation of U.S. men's figure skaters has arrived.

But the timing might be all wrong.

For the second time in a row — and just the second time since the elite of U.S. skating died in a 1961 plane crash — the men's team at the world championships will not include at least one skater who had competed the year before.

That who's-on-first situation in a sport where past achievements carry substantial weight can only make it harder for the team to earn a third men's spot for the 2014 Olympics. The U.S. has failed to have three men just twice in the last nine Olympics, most recently 1998.

"Not to put any pressure on them, but they better get three spots for next year," three-time U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott said.

"They" are Max Aaron, 20, and Ross Miner, 22, who earned the two places for the March world meet after Abbott, the defending champion, botched the last — the simplest — individual jump in his free skate Sunday. That mistake was enough to give Miner (251.29 points) second place over Abbott (249.33).

"I had a stupid lapse of judgment at the end," Abbott said.

Aaron, who finished eighth last year, was the most surprising U.S. men's champion since Rudy Galindo in 1996. Aaron's victory, with 255 points, owed largely to his stunning jumps — two huge quadruple salchows in the free skate after one in the short program.

"I just wanted to be competitive," Aaron said. "I never really thought of being national champion."

Joshua Farris, 18, made as impressive a leap in the standings. After finishing 16th and 21st the last two years, the elegant Farris wound up fourth, fewer than seven points from Miner.

Aaron will go to worlds with minimal international experience on the senior level. He has competed in just two senior "B" events.

"I know what to expect," Aaron insisted. "I do train with a two-time world champion (Patrick Chan of Canada) ... he's taught me how to compete, what it's like to be on the world stage.''

Miner, third at nationals the last two seasons, has considerably more experience, even getting to worlds in 2011. Then he was the second U.S. finisher (11th) in an overall performance so poor it cost the team a third spot for the first time in a decade. The placements of Miner and Aaron must add up to 13 or fewer to regain the third spot.

WOMEN

And the winner was … Gracie Gold.

That has nothing to do with whether one thinks the outcome of the women's event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships should have been different. The results, with defending champion Ashley Wagner first and Gold second, have provoked animated but ultimately less significant discussion.

The essence of what happened during a feverish Saturday night is much easier to figure out than the judges' scores.

"Ashley won the event, but Gracie is the one everyone is talking about," 1984 Olympic champion Scott Hamilton said.

His fellow NBC commentator, Sandra Bezic, had a similar perspective.

"The important thing is Gracie proved that she does have the mettle," Bezic said.

In her senior national debut, the 17-year-old Gold showed some of the same inconsistency that has nettled her all season but, like a great performer, left everyone wanting to see more after winning the free skate with the second-highest score in the eight seasons the code of points scoring system has been used at nationals.

"Gracie was spectacular," 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano said. "I don't think anyone would have complained if she had won, but I think there are some reasons for Ash to have won."

In simplest terms, the two mistakes Gold made in the short program (fall on a jump and popped double axel), wound up costing her more than the three mistakes Wagner made in the free skate (consecutive jump falls and a wonky final triple jump). Gold's runaway victory in the free skate could not erase all of the 13.49-point lead Wagner built in the short program, ultimately losing by 2.27 points.

"Gracie learned she can't let herself get that far behind," Hamilton said. "When she is clean in both programs, she will win by Yuna Kim-like margins."

(South Korea's Kim won the 2010 Olympic gold medal by 23.06 points and the 2009 worlds by 16.42).

The more timely question now is whether Wagner and Gold can do well enough at the March world championships to earn the United States a third women's spot at the 2014 Olympics. To do that, their final placements must add up to 13 or fewer — something that has not happened since the 2008 worlds.

Gold, who lives in Elk Grove Village and trains at two Chicago-area rinks, has to prove the shock of the new won't undo her again. She had rocky senior-level debuts in both the Grand Prix and nationals before putting on one of the greatest exhibitions ever of jumping during the Saturday free skate — seven triples, all of textbook quality with immense height, power and security.